NBA: Predicting the most likely breakout candidate for all 30 teams

Brooklyn Nets

Breakout candidate: Ben Simmons 

This may be a copout answer, but I believe there’s a very good chance we see the best Ben Simmons that we’ve seen in a very long time. He’s finally healthy and has a chip on his shoulder heading into the start of the year. The buzz surrounding Simmons appears to be real and it’s only a matter of time until the optimism either ages greatly or poorly. At least for now, I’m choosing to believe the hype.

It’s been a while since Ben Simmons has been Ben Simmons. In fact, the last time we saw shades of All-Star Simmons was the 2020-21 NBA season. Could he get back to that level of play on a consistent basis? That remains to be seen but if he is ever going to have a chance to get to back level, you’d have to imagine that we will begin to see that this season.

And if Simmons is going to play at that level this season, it will completely unlock the Nets’ ceiling as a potential dark horse contender in the Eastern Conference. This is a big season for Simmons. If he’s going to salvage his NBA career, it has to happen soon.